The present invention relates to catheter placement apparatuses and methods for use. More specifically, the present invention is a method and improved, closed catheter placement apparatus for starting and feeding intravenous solutions without spillage of blood.
Starting and feeding intravenous solutions is a common hospital procedure Numerous intravenous solutions, including glucose in water, saline and glucose in water, and others, sometimes with specific medications or anesthetics, are introduced into the bodies of patients. The catheter placement procedure employs standard catheter placement units which comprise a needle, a flash chamber attached to the needle, and a catheter surrounding and carried by the needle attached to a universal base. (FIGS. 1 and 1a, more fully described below depict the prior art catheter placement apparatus.) The needle is hollow; its tip, bevelled, for ease in penetration of the skin. The base has an end plug that is not air tight. As the bevelled tip of the hollow needle enters the blood vessel, blood courses through the flash chamber displacing air from the chamber passed the end plug.
The blood in the flash chamber signals the medical attendant that a blood vessel has been entered.
The catheter is then gently pushed into the blood vessel as the hollow needle is withdrawn from within the catheter and the universal base. At that point there is an open path from the blood vessel, through the hollow catheter to the universal base. As quickly as possible, the medical attendant connects an administration fluid set carrying the intravenous solution into the base. Usually a small quantity of blood escapes from the base when the needle is withdrawn and before the connection of the tube carrying the intravenous solution can be accomplished.
With the increased use of gloves by medical attendants for all invasive hospital procedures, dexterity is lessened and more blood spilled in the course of administering intravenous solutions. Spilled blood may expose medical personnel to contamination and is therefore to be avoided. Especially with the possibility that the patient may have Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, avoiding contaminated blood is of great importance to medical personnel.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a closed system method and apparatus for the starting and feeding of intravenous fluids. It is a further object of the present invention to start intravenous solutions easily and quickly. It is an object of the invention to enable the starting of intravenous solutions without blood spillage. It is an object of the present invention to reduce exposure of hospital personnel to contamination from the blood of the patient. It is a further object of the present invention to be inexpensive to manufacture.